Steam-valve lubrication.



Patenjed' Mar. 14, 1916.

H. c. WOODB RIDGE.

STEAM VALVE LUBRICATION.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 3. 1915.

DvC.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAFH CO.. WASHINGTON.

y To all whom z't may concem L' rrn s ATES ATE EFTCE.

HOWARD C. WOODBRIDGE, OF EOCHESTEB NEW YORK.

STEAM-VALVE LUBRICATION.

i Specification of Letters Patent.

met-tea Mar. 14 1916.

Application filed Jul 3, 1915. V Serial No. 33,012.

certain new and useful Improvements in Steam-Valve Lubrication, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the lubrication of the cylinder-valves of stean-engines.

In steam-engines of the ordinary slide- 'valve'type it has been customary to lubricate both the valves and the pistons by introducing oil either into the pipe through which steam is admitted to the cylinders, or directly into the `steam-chest or Valvecasing. i This method has not proved adequate in all cases, however, particularly in engines in which superheated steam is used.

The object of the present nvention is to provide a steam-engine with means by which a constant and copious supply of oil, or other lubricant, may be fed directly to the coperating surfaces of the steam-valve and its seat, so that the valve may be properly lubricated at all times, while the lubricant is so directly applied to the' point of use that there is little waste.

To the foregoing end I provide at least one of the coperating surfaces of the valve and its seat with achannel into which the lubricant is directly introduced. In order to convey the lubricant to and force it through said channel I employ live steam from the boiler by which the engine is suppliecl, this supply of steam being, however, independent of the steam-supply to the cylinder. To 'prevent waste' of' the lubricant and regulate the supply to the requirement, I also employ means, preferably embodied in the valve itselflfor controlling the flow of the lubricating fiuids in the said passage, in such a manner that this flow shall occur only when the surfaces of the valve and the valve-seat are in contact at the point where the channel is formed.

In the accompanying drawings:-Figure 1 is a plan-view, showing the'bottom of the steam-chest, andthe valve-seat, of an ordinary 'slide-valve of the type usually employed in connection with locomotives, these parts being provided, however, with channels and passages peculiar to the present invention;` F ig; 2 is a 'vertical' section, on a fore-and-aft plane, through the valve-seat, the valve, and the -steam-chestand Fig. 3

is a vertical section, on a transverse median plane, through the parts shown in Fig. 2, together with' a diagrammatic representation of the other parts ofthe lubricating devices. i

The invention is illustrated as embodied in a slide-valve steam-engine of ordinarv form, and only so much of the engine is shown as is necessary for an understanding of the invention; As shown particularly in Figs. 2 and 3, a steam-chest 5 incloses a slide-valve. 6 operated by a valve-red 7 The valve-seat comprises four parallel bars 8, 9, 10 and 11, connected at the ends by bars 12 and 13, the opening 14- between the bars 8, 10, 12` and 13 constituting the port of one end of the cylinder, the opening 15 between the bars 9, 11, 12 and 13 constituting the port of the other end of the cylinder, while the opening 16 between the bars 10, 11, 12 and 13 constitutes the eXhaust-port. These parts are, or may be, all as in an ordinary slide-valve steam-engine. i

In accordance with the present inventen two channels 17 and 18 are formed, as shown particularly in Fig. 1, in the bars S and 9, these channels extending, at their ends, into the bars 12 and 13, -but terminating short of the 'middle of these bars. The slide-valve is provided at its ends, respectively, with short channels 19 and 20, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, these channels being formed in the bearing-surface of the valve, and in alinement with the end-portions of the channels 17 and' 18 so as to register therewith in certain positions of the valve. The channels 19 and 20 are `of such length as to span the distance between the ends of the channels 17 and 18 whenthe valve is in its middle position, but to communicate with only one or the other 'of these channels when the valve is moved in either direction from middle position.

A vertical passage 22, at the outer end of the valve seat` communicates with a horizontal passage 23, and thislatter passage is connected by a ppe 24, with a lubricator 25. This lubricator may be any device for feeding lubricating oil automatically, and is illustrated as of the well known displacement type. It is supplied with live steam from the'boiler through a pipe 26, and this steam also fiows freely through the pipe 2-1, so that the oil is carried through this pipe in a current of steam.

The channel 20 in the valve is connected,

by a perforation 21', as shown in Fig. 3 With the interior space of the valve, Wl'lCh s always in communication With the eXhaust-.

' port 16.

The operation of 'the 'lub-ricating-device Will now be described as a whole.

Supposng the valve to be in its middle position, live steam and oilWill flow through the pipe %into the passage 23, and thence through the passage 22 into the channel 19 in the valve-surface. From the ends of this channel the steam and oil flow into the ends of ,the channels 17 and 18, and thence throughout the length ofthese channels and' into-'the channel 20 in the valve-surface,

from which they are discharged, through ;the opening 2 1, into the eXhaust-port 16.

Accordingly, streams oi' lubricatng-fiuid flow at this time along those parts of the valve-surface which' are immediately above thechannels 17 and 18, the lubricant being thus applied directly to the valve-surfacev the entire working-surface of the left-'hand portion of the valve. ,At this timethe channel '20 connects the channel 18 withthe'exhaustport, sothat a free 'flow of steam and oil can occur in the channel 18, thue assuring lubrication from end to end of the valve. V] hen the valve returns to itsmiddle position communication 71th the channel *17 is resumed, and upon the right-'hand move- 'ment of the valve the channel 18 is *disconnected, hile the flow through 'the channel 17 is continued. e

i It will be apparent that the arrangement above described provides for the direct repeated application of the fluid lubricant directly to those parts of the Working-surface of the valve which are'most subject to the heating and scouring efi'ect of the live steam passing to the cylinder, and it has' been found in practice that thismethod'of lubrication is so effective that it permits the use of superheated steam in connection With an ordinary slide-valve, Without undue Wear upon the Valve and Without the. use of an inordinate amount of lubricating oil.

An 'important advantage of the Construction described resides in the fact that the lubricant is forced into the steam-chest against onlv the comparativelv slight pres- 'sure in the eXhaust-port, so that the action is positive and uniform, regardless of the variations of the pressure in the steam-chest resulting from variations in load' and in the position of the'throttle'-valve. Another advantage liesin the fact that Where the engine is operatedwith superheated steam, the

saturated steam by means of which the oil is conveyed through the channels in the -stea m'-chest is at a substantially lower tenperature than the superheated steam, and

consequently it tends tocool'the valve sur-v 7 `faces and prevent them from attaining a tei'nperature -at 'WhlCh the lubr cating effect ofthe'oil Would'be impairedf v e The' construction herenbefore descrbedis conjunction With e other usualor suitable `clesi ne`doartichlarl :for thelubricationof i i b 1 W v l t 'the vaive-surfaces, and lt -may 'be used n i engine-mechanism. It has been found,'hoW- ever, that the present*arrangement Will 'provide 'sufiiciently for all necessary lubrication in the steam-chest and cylinder, so. that iurther lubricating 'devices 'may be 'dispensedg g With; r

W hile the invention 'has been' found particularly useful in an engine where super-f 'heated steam is used, it 'will be appa'r ent that it may have utility in other cases', and that it is not, 'therefore limited to such use nor,

=in general, to the details of Construction and operation of the embodiment herein 'described and illustrated' in 'the accompanying I claimf-- r 1. The combination, with `a stea-m-val ve a channel, of means, independent of the steam-supply controlled by the valve, for introducing a current ofsteam and lu'bricant into said channel; thevalve being provided r 'With means for controlling the -fiowthrough the channel in accordance With ;the vmove-g 'ments of the valve: i I

i 2; In -combinatlon W1th a slide-valve-seat havng channels in the surfaces of 'its *outer bars, and a slide-valve coperating With the kahe-'seat', means for supplying a mixture of live steam and oil' to said channels; the

valve being provided With channels coper- :ating With those in' thevalve-seat 'to regulatethe'flow of the steam and oil'.

3. In combination With 'a s li'de-valve-seat j "having channels in 'the surfaces of its onter bars and extending into 'the end-bars ofthe' seat, a slide-valve coperating-With said seat and having channels in its ends alining and "cooperatingwith said channels in the valve- 'seat: and means forjintroducng 'a lubrcatingfluid into the 'channel -at one end ofthe i valve.

HO ARD o; woon ilsiinen j copies of this patent may 'be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G." 

